St. Petersburg, Florida -- Alec Leslie is a junior at East Bay High School. Along with his mother, he came to a downtown St. Petersburg park on Friday for what he thought was going to be an interview with 10 News about being called a hero.

You see, back in October Alec spotted a crashed van and he put his own life in danger to help save the seriously injured driver. He even continued to visit Brian McNutt in the hospital, and for his courage, Alec recently received the ROTC Medal for Heroism. Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Hector Pagan pinned it on his chest during a ceremony before the Hillsborough School Board.

"I appreciate the medal a lot. It was a true honor to get it from General Pagan," Alec told us.